


do you wanna build a snowman?

by kenmagoesblep



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everything's the same except Riku's adventuring along side Sora Donald and Goofy, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gay Disaster Riku, M/M, Party Member Riku, there's a single cuss word in there just fyi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 17:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20050180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenmagoesblep/pseuds/kenmagoesblep
Summary: Sora and Riku definitely don't have the time to fool around in the snow, in charge of ending the sudden snow and not playing in it, yet Sora can't help but say. "Come on, let's go and play!"--"SORIKU sora drags riku into the freezing cold to make a snowman."curiouscat request by @todoyamas (twitter)





	do you wanna build a snowman?

**Author's Note:**

> hey there!!! good to see my cheap frozen reference didn't push you away!!! welcome to this fic!!! i've been on a soriku streak, as one might've noticed kgksdlhgsdklg or, maybe, i never got out of it, considering i've been in this hill for the past 10 years (literally), but only now i have the writing skills necessary to do things as i wish them. 
> 
> this one's really simple, plain fluff. hope this brings a smile to your face.

“Pssst, Riku,” as if he hasn’t been speaking his mouth off until that point, Sora lightly nudged his shoulder. “Did I ever tell you of the time I met Santa Claus?”

“Why that all of a sudden?” Riku doesn’t mean to be rude, but he can’t avoid the bite to his words as he involuntarily chews at his cracked lips.

“I’m trying to _ talk to you, _Riku,” Sora puffs his cheeks and scoots closer. “We’ve been through so much and never really shared it. Besides, it’s snowing, and snow reminds me of Santa, so. Did I ever tell you about it?”

Riku can’t help the grunt that escapes him, rolling his eyes under his closed eyelids, but still wraps an arm around his best friend for more comfortable cuddling. 

They’re in a mission together in the kingdom of Arendelle, that, much to their group and the local’s confusion, is going through a relentless snow storm for the past few days. After a lot of inspection, they come to the conclusion it has something to do with their queen, who they have to catch up with. But there’s no doing that in the dark night. So, after negotiating for a bit, the owner of a local trading post (and sauna? For some reason?) is kind enough to let the two young boys, dog, and duck stay the night. 

Unfortunately for all of them, the only accommodation he can offer is an empty stable with some leftover hay to lay on. A lot better than pitching a tent out in the middle of a snowstorm, for sure, but with nothing to warm them up besides themselves, it’s still pretty uncomfortable. They’re all huddled together on the hay, trying their best to fit under a blanket Sora snuck out of Yen Sid’s castle last time they were over. 

Donald and Goofy, probably used to way worse for all Riku knows (King Mickey doesn’t talk too much about their hometown, but from what he did tell, it’s clear they went through some stuff), doze off pretty easily, nestled in each other. 

Sora and Riku, on the other hand, stay wide awake. Two islanders, after all.

Freezing in Arendelle. That’s not how Riku expected he and Sora would reconnect after years apart fighting their own battles, or how he’d get to cuddle him for the first time. After being in love with Sora for so long, he’d hoped it would be a romantic moment. Not a life or death situation. But well, beggars can’t be choosers. 

“I call bullshit,” after he’s done regretting his life decisions one more time, Riku decides to roll with it, laughing as he elbows Sora’s side. "you didn't meet Santa."

“I did! He’s neighbors with the Halloween Town people,” Sora protests, body jerking as his first instinct is to sit up to keep talking but he can’t dare to disturb the blanket. “I spoke with him! He said I’m in the naughty list for saying he doesn’t exist. So, presumably, you’re on the list, too.”

“Oh, yeah?” 

Riku has full intentions of getting a rise out of Sora, poking fun at him for a little laugh on a cold night, but a loud snore from Goofy spooks them both into silence. 

They stare at each other, eyes wide, for a few seconds, giggling in the back of their throats. The whole situation feels nostalgic. Sora and Riku were always the ones to stay awake until late, whispering to each other when Kairi fell asleep first, quietly playing in a dimly lit room so no one would notice. Sora looks as adorable as he’s always been, but it strikes Riku differently. His eyes sparkle in the orange light provided by the oil lamps around, crinkled with laughter, caged in pretty eyelashes. In spite of the cold and how much they’re both shivering, Sora still smiles at him, full of contagious joy. Riku knows now that what he’s feeling isn’t heartburn. 

Riku’s lost in his infatuation, paying only half a mind to Sora’s whispered tales of awesome adventures and nodding along. It’s comfortable, soothing, to be laying down next to Sora and hearing him speak, knowing he was safe there. Anywhere is comfortable when Sora’s around. It feels like home.

Riku would go to hell and back to keep things like that.

“Hey,” Sora drags him out of his sleepy yet thoughtful state with a hand on his shoulder. “Have you ever built a snowman before?”

  
  
“Huh?” Riku struggles, both with opening his eyes (when did he doze off?) and processing the question.

“Did you ever build a snowman?”

“I… I don’t think so.” 

“Do you want to build one?”

“... Maybe? When we’re done with our business here?”

“What about now?”

It’s pitch black out, the wind howling on the other side of the walls and banging at the stable door. Snow’s deep and thick and they have only a single set of winter clothes, sold to them by the trading post owner. That’s a terrible idea.

“_ Now? _ Sora, we need to rest.”

“I’m rested!” Sora sits up, stirring the blankets and allowing a gust of freezing air to get under.

“I’m not,” Riku grunts as he curls in himself, clutching his bit of the blanket. Sora’s undeterred, wiggling in his place until he slips through the bottom of the blanket and gets up. “Get back here, it’s cold.”

“You can rest when we’re done, let’s go,” Sora’s practically bouncing in his steps as he makes his way to their backpacks. “When are we going to have this opportunity again? It doesn’t snow in Destiny Islands! Besides, it’s not supposed to be snowing here, either, so the snow’s gonna melt as soon as we get the queen to stop the storm.”

Riku’s so done with this argument. It shouldn’t even be happening. No matter how much building a snowman sounds fun, it’s too cold to leave the stable, and way too cold to not be cuddling. Riku sinks deeper into the pile of hay and glares at his best friend, willing him to come back. 

“Quit it with the grumpy face, Riku, I know you want to.” Sora teases, putting on the fluffy winter boots and cape and throwing the coat at Riku. He really can’t lie, huh. 

“Ugh, alright,” Riku grumbles as he sits up. Sora grins at him once more, offering his hand, that Riku gladly takes once he’s done fastening the coat. 

The door squeaks open and, surprisingly, it’s not as windy outside as expected. It’s quite calm, indeed, snowflakes graciously floating in the air and piling on the ground, with only a chilly breeze to move them on an angle. Why was the door making so much noise, then? How dramatic.

Sora steps right out, twirling around with his arms open and his tongue out, squealing when a snowflake actually lands on it. Riku rubs his forearms and admires quietly. Only then they settle on making it right near the stable door, where they can benefit from the oil lamps for light, a luxury in the middle of the wintery woods. 

After his knees go fully numb from kneeling in the snow and his hands stop burning, a smile creeps on Riku’s face. Building a snowman is reminiscing of making sand castles on the beach, only colder and easier to play with. Prettier, too. Their abomination of a snowman, with its wobbly round body and inhuman head, glistens under the moonlight. 

It matches the sparkles in Sora’s eyes as he tries refining its shape, patting it around and adding more snow as he goes, so concentrated that the tip of his tongue shows up, just like when they were kids. 

Sora went through so much yet he’s still his same cheerful, lovable self. Bless his heart. 

“Hmmm...” when he seems satisfied with the form of his… snow _ thing_, Sora starts looking around with no focus, until he figures out what he wants with an excited yelp and runs inside. 

“Sora? Is something wrong?” Riku peeks inside the stable, seeing Sora rummage through their backpacks.

“Found it!” Sora beams at him and comes back with a single apple in hands, that he sticks (rather forcefully) on the middle of the creature’s face, before adding two moon-shaped pebbles slightly above. “Ta-da! It’s done!”

“... Huh,” Riku looks at it from various angles. Raises an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to be?”

  
  
“A lil’ moogle, can’t you see?” Sora gestures towards the snow creature and Riku looks at it from more angles. Now that he mentioned it, Riku can kinda see it. The pointy ears, the big head and the red nose. He chuckles.

  
  
“It’s… certainly an artistic interpretation of a moogle,” Riku chews at his lips, willing himself to stop laughing. It doesn’t really work, especially when Sora huffs and puffs in disagreement. “C’mon, Sora, you didn’t expect we’d be good at this, did you?”

  
  
“It’s pretty cute, if I do say so myself.” Sora puffs his cheeks and places both hands on his waist, shaking away his cape in the process. 

“Yeah, it is.” the unsaid _ ‘much like you’ _sits hurtfully in Riku’s throat, who only smiles fondly at his best friend as he rearranges Sora’s cape to properly cover him. Sora thanks him with a toothy grin. “Let’s go back inside now? I’m freezing, and so are you.”

“Mhm, we have a big day ahead of us.”

Both of them give the snow moogle a good pet in the head, flattening the top, before heading inside the stable. They carefully close the door and lay down on the pile of hay next to Donald and Goofy, this time much closer to each other, as Sora slots right under Riku’s chin and loosely wraps an arm over his torso, shivering against his chest. The benefits of being childhood friends are also the things that slowly kill Riku inside. 

Hopefully, before they’re thrust into war, Riku can be honest about his feelings. Take it out of his chest before it’s too late.

Sora whispers him a sleepy ‘goodnight’, his breathing evening out not long after, and Riku leaves a secretive kiss to the top of his best friend’s head before finally closing his eyes as well.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading all the way through!! please consider leaving a kudo and/or a comment.  
you can talk to me through [tumblr](http://kenmagoesblep.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/kenmagoesblep).


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